by Eric Leatherwood

Created on: January 01, 2009

Alaska, the largest state in the country is relatively young. Alaska was made a state in 1959 .It was bought from Russia for seven million dollars. Russia sold Alaska because it didn't know what to do with Alaska. The capital of Alaska is Juneau, and its largest city is Anchorage. Alaska's population is currently at 626,932. It has 1.09 people per square mile. Alaska has three official languages, they are English, Spanish, and Native North American.

Alaska's total area is 663, 267 square miles of land, which makes it the largest state. Its width is at 808 miles and its length is 1479 miles. Alaska is 13% water. Its longitude is 130 degrees west and its latitude is at 51 degrees North. The highest point in Alaska is Mt. McKinley at 20,320 ft. Which makes it one of the tallest mountains in the world. The lowest point of Alaska is the Pacific Ocean, which is at sea level. Alaska does not border the U.S, but it borders Yukon and British Columbia, Canada. It also borders the Gulf of Alaska , the Bering sea, the Beaufort Sea, and the Chukchi Sea.

Since Alaska is so large, it has many geographic features. South central Alaska, the coastal area of the state includes Anchorage and Juneau. South east Alaska is home to many small towns and large glaciers. It also contains a large temperate forest. South west Alaska is sparsely populated, largely coastal, and has stormy weather. The interior of Alaska is marked by braided rivers and Arctic tundra lands. The Aleutian islands contain many active volcanoes. Alaska is home to 3.5 million lakes and miles of permafrost.

Alaska has a mid- altitude oceanic climate and a sub arctic ocean climate. They are known as the wettest and warmest parts of Alaska. It is also the only part of the state that doesn't freeze during the winter. The climate of
South Alaska has a sub arctic climate, and cool winters. Alaska is known for large populations of geese, moose, polar bears, and wolves. There are many kinds of fish in Alaska, including salmon.

Before American settlers colonized Alaska, there were many Native American tribes that roamed the landscape. Later on Alaska was discovered by Russian sailors, but was later on sold to the U.S since they thought is was useless. After many years, gold was discovered in Alaska and a gold rush was formed. The gold rush doubled Alaska's population due to the high amount of gold their. In 1912, Alaska was granted territorial status.

During World War II, three of the Aleautian islands were occupied by the Japanese,

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